Coquimbo to Puerto Montt

High lights of Week 3
We have pretty much settled into this cruising life style by our third week.  Cappuccinos in the morning, on the balcony if it is warm enough.  There is always something going on during the day, Spanish lessons which we dearly needed, briefings on the next port of call, walks around the deck so we don’t feel guilty about the wine we are drinking at the wine tastings and the quick visits to the ports just about every other day.
And we have met some wonderful people during our adventures.  Most of our favorites are Aussies and the two Tazi’s, Carol and “Electric Bill”.  The Vines Wine and Tapas Bar is the basis for most of these relationships.  Vines has become the unofficial meeting place in the evenings, before and after dinner, or for dinner.  It is located in the main Piazza so there is always some type of entertainment.
Our first port this week was Coquimbo in Chile’s Norte Chico.  We have finally made it to Chile and will be spending a vast majority of the cruise exploring the whole Chilean coast.  La Serena is a charming colonial city with some great architecture, local artisan fair at La Recova Market and the required central plaza.  The region is also the home of that wonderful grape they use in Pisco!

I love it when our port days are on the weekend!  All of the locals are out cruising the streets along with the 2,600 cruise ship passengers.  Quite a sight to say the least.


I love all of the parks and plazas. Their respect for their trees and public areas is something we could learn from.

After all of that walking, it was time for some lunch.  A local café, up the stairs and around to the back of the building on a terrace overlooking another street. Glad we found it.  The Conger Soup was tasty.  And we found our way back out too!  Wahoo!!

It was a gorgeous day to explore La Serena.  Chile could be a favorite!
Next stop ….. Valparaiso!
We are actually overnighting in Valparaiso. We arrived around noon and right smack dab in the center of their industrial port.  This is not the Port of Miami kids.  The containers are stacked so high that you need a GPS to get to the gate.  One of the main drawbacks of large ships it getting that many people off loaded and out with buses, tenders or whatever.  Lots of lines and wasted time which is really precious on short layovers.
Our first stop once we were off the ship in Valparaiso was the funicular that travels up the hill to get us into the old town. 

Found a great restaurant for lunch.  Food has been awesome in Chile.

Loved the colorful houses up in the hills.

I think that Chile is an area that I would like to come back to and explore in depth.
Puerto Montt was our last port of call this week.  It is located in the Lake District of Chile and home to our new friend Fritzy.  There were a couple of towns located nearby that we wanted to see so we succumbed and joined a cruise tour on a bus!  Before we left we wandered around town and checked out a few of the little artist nooks.

The electric lines in town were a hoot!  Kind of like spaghetti!

After cruising around Puerto Montt, we were off to Puerto Varas, or the Rose City. It’s a beautiful town on the edge of Lake Llanquihue.

Final stop on our uber quick tour is Frutillar, a hamlet of Germanic descent, with a pretty neat little museum also on Lake Llanquihue.  It was a replica of an old German village complete with mills and all.

We had a great day exploring this picturesque area.  Think Fritzy made a good choice when he settled here.  We will return to Puerto Montt  and the Lake District some day.

To see more photos of our ports of call just click on the red port and visit “Dreamchaser Travels” on Shutterfly.

 

Callao to Puerto Montt – 3,067 Nautical Miles

Till next time,

Don’t forget to relax and get some sand between your toes!!

Santé,

San Juan del Sur to Lima

Highlights of Week 2
We covered some ground this week and have seen 4 new countries and ports. And seen is the operative word. We are used to going some place and spending a few weeks and living like the natives!! That is our first preference but we are looking at our 30 days around South America as the Big Red Bus Tour! You know, like those wonderful tours you take the first day you arrive in a city to get your bearings!!! Our plan was to spend an additional 60 days exploring South America when we get off the ship and the cruise was an excellent vehicle to see a lot of the continent in a short time. Mission Accomplished!!
After awhile they all sort of look the same.  This is a repositioning cruise so many of the ports we dock at are mainly to resupply the ship.  We are also docking in the industrial areas because these ports aren’t quite ready to cruise tourism which has its good and bad points.  Not much to see but you do get to enjoy small, unspoiled villages.
One thing they forgot to tell you, when it says Quito or Lima, they are often many miles in-land and if you want to see these places, it involves many hours back and forth and maybe an hour or two at the most at your destination…not exactly Dreamchaser ideals! So we usually explore the local area on our own.
First port of call this week was the large fishing village of San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua.   It has yet to be discovered and wonderful place to wander along the beach looking for a café to spend the afternoon.

We ended up at Vivian’s quite a ways down the beach.  Cold beer, more ceviche and some tasty fish.  Wonderful lunch and a great view!










Soccer on the beach is the national pastime.

We actually met two couples from Vancouver who were sailing on to the Panama Canal to spend the winter in the Caribbean.  It is neat to see someone already living the dream!

Finished the day with a little island music as we headed back to the ship!

Second port this week was Puntarenas, Costa Rica, another coastal port. We decided to do the Corobici River rafting cruise and were not disappointed.  Had a wonderful time, monkeys, parrots and all.

We were soon off to  Manta, Ecuador, our first stop in South America.  Manta is the jumping off point for Quito and the Galapagos Islands. Another day of walking the malecon, looking at local crafts and searching for the next lunch. 

     
Local beers, fish and ceviche..do you see a pattern here??

Manta is a huge industrial port and probably one of the neatest things was watching the ship next to us unload a cargo of tuna.  Pretty neat.

Last port for the week was Callao, the port for the city of Lima, Peru. This is a huge area with a population of 8 million people.  Our destination was the Miraflores area.  A little touristy but right on the water with awesome views. We strolled through the neighborhood and the headed back to the water and lunch!

The Pisco Sours were killer…and the whole meal!

Our new friends from the Lake District of Chile.

It was one heck of a week.  Lots of beautiful places and wonderful memories!

To see more photos of the ports of call just click on the red ports to visit "Dreamchaser Travels" at Shutterfly.

Puerto Quetzal to Lima - 2, 126 Nautical Miles

Till next time,

Don’t forget to relax and get some sand between your toes!!

Sante,